


of scissors and combs

by cosmoscrow



Category: One Piece
Genre: Adorable Monkey D. Luffy, Fluff, Gen, Humor, I love him, LUFFY LOVES HIS FRIENDS SO MUCH GUYS I'M SOBBING, Nakamaship, are there ships??, could be interpreted as romantic if one squints, just full of love and appreciation, ugh i don't know i just wanted to write something cute, usopp appreciation, we will never know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 19:30:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15298467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmoscrow/pseuds/cosmoscrow
Summary: Usopp was the first to notice and it all goes from there.or; in which Luffy needs a haircut and everything is good.





	of scissors and combs

**Author's Note:**

> Salutations!
> 
> I was hit with a sudden urge to Appreciate Usopp More so please join me in Loving and Appreciating him like all of the crew does. I love the entire concept of Nakamaship and I will die for each and every one of them.
> 
> I just *clenches fist* love them so much. ALSO LUFFY IS A HUGE CUTIEPATOOTIE AND HE IS MY BIGGEST WEAKNESS.
> 
> I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful day! Take care!  
> – Crow

* * *

 

Usopp was the first to notice.

It happened during lunch, a typical day out at sea with the sun smiling down on them and the wind in their sails and their greedy captain making grabby hands at their respective meals. The sniper absentmindedly smacked a rubber hand away after it strayed a little too close to his plate for comfort, but Luffy managed to nab a piece of meat anyway and Usopp grumbled, finally looking up with a complaint ready on his tongue. It died however, when he watched his captain stuff his face.

Once every few seconds, the young captain would swipe a hand over his face, leaving small smears of gravy as he brushed back the black bangs from his eyes. The strands however, were just as stubborn as their owner and almost immediately fell back into big dark eyes and Luffy, with his hands full of stolen food, would just whip his head back a little to urge them to move. Usopp lowered his fork.

“Luffy,” he called and said captain perked up, still munching and hand roving over the table unseen until Zoro pinned it with an iron grip. “Do you need a haircut?”

Luffy blinked and the table quieted a little. Next to the captain, Nami lifted a hand to brush through his messy black hair, humming disapprovingly.

“It is getting longer, don’t you think, Luffy?” She asked and the younger swallowed, almost going crosseyed as he stared at his overhanging bangs.

“I guess? They’re getting annoying.” He confessed before frowning. “How am I supposed to see all the adventure first when they’re always in the way?”

Sanji, who had served another tray of food, chuckled a little at the obvious concern of his young captain.

“Then a haircut would certainly do you good.” He said, glancing at Usopp, who sighed but smiled nonetheless.

“I’ll get the kit ready and after lunch, you’ll get a haircut, Luffy.”

 

* * *

 

Luffy’s ‘ _appointment_ ’ had him sitting shirtless and crosslegged on the grass on Sunny’s deck with Usopp kneeling behind him, fingers brushing through the mop of dark hair. It was a pleasant feeling, which had the captain leaning into the warm hands, stretching and craning his neck like a cat receiving pets. Usopp clicked his tongue but there was a smile on his lips.

“Quit moving, will you? I’m trying to figure out how to cut your hair.” He half-jokingly admonished his best friend and by the way how Luffy went rigid before slouching, Usopp could tell he was pouting.

“Why?” Luffy grumbled. “Can’t you just go through with the scissors?”

“Well, unless you want to end up looking like a patchy old man, I prefer to take my time planning.” The sniper explained loftily and he could almost hear the gears turning in his captain’s head. “Don’t even think about it.”

“ _Phooey_.” Luffy pouted once again and Usopp chuckled lightly, taking a spray bottle full of water mixed with some conditioner ( _Nami’s idea_ ), pumping out a few clouds of mist into the captain’s hair. With a comb, he began to untangle the mass of stubborn black strands, carefully dragging the plastic teeth through the hair in order not to hurt the other. Thankfully Brook, who sat next to Robin enjoying some afternoon tea, had started playing some songs on his violin, causing Luffy to hum peacefully along with the melody, only swaying along slightly. He blinked a little, his nose wiggling as he sniffed the air.

“Hey, that water smells like Nami!” He said, excited at his discovery. Usopp hummed, finally reaching for a pair of silver scissors.

“Yeah, there is some of Nami’s conditioner in it.” The sound of scissors snipping away filled the air. “It makes it easier to control the hair and also cleans them.”

“Ooh, that makes sense.” The captain nodded thoughtfully and Usopp squawked a little at the unexpected movement. Robin chuckled at her enthusiastic captain. “I smell like fruit, it’s nice!”

“Goodness, Luffy, stop moving!” The sniper chastised through a small fit of laughter. “I’ll give you a bald spot if you don’t!”

“Ne, Usopp, can you take all the cut hair and glue it onto my face like a beard?”

“ _Absolutely not!_ ”

There was another delightful chuckle from Robin, accompanied by an arriving Nami and Sanji, who was carrying a cool drink for the navigator and another teapot for Brook and Robin. Luffy laughed, chattering away and trying to convince his sniper to make him a beard as Usopp cut his hair,who was suppressing a snort at the ridiculous idea. Somewhere, they could hear Franky making an entrance and Chopper ran out onto the deck with a medical book in his arms, immediately spotting a napping Zoro and making his way up to him, no doubt planning on making himself comfortable in the swordsman’s lap.

Usopp lowered the scissors, scrutinising his handiwork before rummaging within the open haircutting kit next to him again. With a small sound of victory, he pulled out the small hair clipper, which buzzed to life with the press of a button. The sniper gently pushed Luffy’s head down slightly to expose the back of his neck properly, so he could get rid of the unruly black fuzz sitting on the base of his neck. Cautiously, he set the clippers onto the skin, the buzzing sensation making the captain jump.

“Weh! It tickles!” Luffy shrieked in surprise and Usopp had to yank the clippers away to avoid shaving a clumsy spot into the black hair.

“My bad! I should’ve warned you!” Usopp batted rubbery hands away as they came to inspect the back of Luffy’s head, urging him to lean his head back down. “Hold still, it’ll only be a short while, okay?”

The buzz started up again and the sniper began to carefully shave off the leftover baby hairs that he couldn’t reach with the scissors. All the while, he kept chiding Luffy for his incessant giggling as his lean shoulders kept on shaking slightly. Finally, after deeming his work satisfactory, Usopp turned off the clippers and set it aside.

“Alright, the back and sides are all cleaned up! You can turn around now.” He announced, hand finding the scissors again as the captain turned around to face his sniper with a big smile. Usopp snorted a little at the sight of Luffy grinning at him with his wet and combed out bangs disrupting his vision like a curtain of black hair. “I’ll be cutting your bangs now, so try and not move too much, okay? I don’t wanna poke your eye out.”

The young captain only giggled and Usopp rolled with his eyes fondly, before gently pinching a portion of the bangs between his fingers and carefully snipping away at the ends. The loose strands fell and some landed on Luffy’s nose, causing it to scrunch up and wiggle as he tried to blow away the tickling sensation. The sniper moved on to the other side, his tongue sticking out slightly between his full lips in concentration as he leaned in close in order not to make a mistake and dooming Luffy with terrible bangs. As he snipped away on black hair, he didn’t take much notice of the round eyes intently staring at him.

Luffy let his eyes roam over the face of his sniper – he remembered the lanky teen from two years ago, still all gangly and awkward as himself, somehow feeling like he’s growing in all the wrong places and never quite fitting into his own skin. Now, Usopp seemed to have filled out more, looking solid and fit, brown skin settling nicely over the lean muscles and eyelashes seemingly longer and fuller, making his dark brown eyes look all soft and warm. There was a small pale scar near the bottom of his right eye, that Luffy hadn’t noticed until now, and he briefly wondered how Usopp got it, suddenly feeling unhappy at the thought of his best friend being hurt.

Usopp had changed. They all did, of course, but Luffy couldn’t help but notice the small changes in his crew. The way Nami proudly held her head high, how Sanji would simply just hang out with them at times, how Zoro started feigning most of his naps – they all changed in such little ways, becoming stronger and yet, despite the small differences from their past-selves, they were still all the same. Usopp was still the same – still told the best stories and tinkered on funny little knickknacks and drew with such grace in all colours imaginable and would laugh with Luffy until his eyes screwed shut and his curly hair bounced in time with his shaking shoulders. And that fact, made Luffy smile.

With gentle fingers, Usopp ruffled up the freshly cut bangs slightly in order to see if they still needed some work. He brought the scissors up again and cut away a few astray strands, the tip of his long nose brushing against his captain’s slightly. Suddenly, Luffy moved his head away and Usopp was about to protest when he felt a pair of slightly chapped lips planting a soft kiss onto the tip of his nose. Incredulously, he blinked at Luffy, cheeks heating up slightly at the tender gesture. The captain only grinned brightly.

“ _Thanks._ ”

It was said without any form of context or explanation. And honestly, Usopp didn’t think he needed any of these, not with how Luffy looked at him like he just gifted him the biggest piece of meat he had ever seen. Despite the confusion, warmth filled the sniper’s chest and he couldn’t help but chuckle fondly, the noise contagious with how Luffy chimed in with his own unique giggles. It was nice and Usopp embraced the light feeling, smile now just as bright as he finished his captain’s hair cut. The cut wasn’t anything to extravagant, basically just a trim with a drizzle of Usopp’s personal style if the slight undercut was anything to go by. Luffy wouldn’t stop brushing his fingers through the soft fuzz in amazement, bounding up to Nami and Robin to show off his new hair as his sniper cleaned up.

“My, don’t you look handsome, my dear captain.” Robin complimented him as soon as Luffy was done parading. He laughed, allowing Nami to ruffle his hair into order.

“I agree,” Nami said happily, “this cut looks good on you! Nice job, Usopp!” The sniper gave her a thumbs up while grinning, obviously just as proud of his work as Luffy bounced to Franky, who immediately exclaimed the hair cut was extremely “ _SUPERRR!_ ”. Robin called after him.

“Luffy, I’d suggest a quick shower if you don’t want to track stray hairs everywhere.”

At that, Sanji balked immediately, reaching out to catch his wayward captain by his yellow sash.

“ _Geh_! Into the shower, _now_!”

 

* * *

 

Later, Luffy emerged squeaky clean with drying hair and smelling pleasantly of pomegranates, courtesy of having gotten his hands onto Robin’s soap stash. Not that she minded, her captain always had the habit of using his crew’s soaps – one unfortunate time he accidentally spilled Sanji’s cologne all over himself, causing the cook to nearly have a fit ( _it was expensive!_ ) and Luffy being unable to step within five feet of anyone on the ship without them immediately bailing at the too strong smell. He had been incredibly upset that day as no one was willing to play or cuddle him.

With a spring in his step, the young captain took the slide to arrive on deck, scurrying back up to Usopp, who had long cleaned up the mess they’ve made. Now, the sniper seemed to busy himself with his own hair, holding a smaller comb in his hand as he carefully brushed it through his infinite mass of tightly coiled hair. Brook’s violin still sang beautiful melodies into the wind and Luffy passed a still napping Zoro with a now sleeping Chopper in his lap. With a small snicker, the captain all but bowled his sniper over, now laughing at the indignant shriek as he pulled Usopp down for a small play fight.

“Luffy!” Usopp half-laughed as he batted the other away. “Don’t do that, I’m busy!”

The young captain rolled onto his back, grinning up at his best friend as he eyed the small comb in his hand.

“Oh, are you doing your own hair now?” He scrambled up into a sitting position, crossing his legs while leaning forward excitedly. “Let me do it! I wanna do your hair!”

“Uh,” Usopp started, a little unsure. Not that he didn’t trust his captain, but Luffy always had the tendency to get a little… _overenthusiastic_ with things. But how could he say no to those big ol’ puppy eyes? He sighed. “Oh well, why not? Just don’t pull too hard, please.”

At Luffy’s eager nod, he gave him the comb, turning around to present him his hair he had freed from his usual ponytail. Excited as he was, Luffy immediately dove straight in, burying his hands into the mass of black hair and almost jamming the comb in before pulling. Usopp let go of a pained yelp, dodging the clumsy hands as he clutched his hair.

“Ouch! Luffy!”

“S-Sorry!” The captain sputtered, looking confused. “I didn’t expect your hair to be so tight!”

The sniper sighed, rubbing the sore spot as he straightened up again. Warm hands reached for his hair once more, tangling themselves into the curls and Luffy made a small sound of wonder.

“My hair is a bit different from yours,” Usopp began to explain, while the other played with his hair. “Can you feel the difference?”

Luffy nodded, marvelling at the tight coils. They weren't all straight and spiky like his own hair, or all silky and wavy as Nami’s. Usopp’s hair was full of volume, almost bushy, and soft. Upon taking a closer look, he discovered the tight coils blending into each other.

“Whoa…” Luffy said, looking completely amazed by the hair it made Usopp chuckle. “Usopp’s hair is like a mystery!”

“It’s really not.”

“But it’s so pretty!”

The blunt words and the tone of insistence caused a new blush to rise in the sniper’s cheeks. His captain really didn’t hold back on words, huh. Usopp resisted the urge to cover his face in ( _flattered_ ) embarrassment.

“I-If you say so…” he mumbled.

“Of course I say so, I’m the captain!” Luffy once more insisted, before his face turned serious. The other couldn’t really see his face but he felt a cold chill run up his spine. “Usopp seems so surprised, why? Did someone tell you your hair was ugly? Who was it?”

Usopp hastily waved a hand around, sweating slightly at his captain’s protectiveness.

“What? No! Goodness Luffy, I was just taken off guard, that’s all!” He laughed nervously, before plucking the comb out of his hair. “Why don’t you try again, just be more gentle, okay?”

That seemed to placate the other and Luffy brightened up again, eager to get another try in combing his best friend’s pretty ‘ _mystery_ ’ hair. He took Usopp’s words to heart, warm hands untangling from black hair as he carefully started to comb through the tight coils. It was almost scary how quiet Luffy was, but the captain was hellbent on caring for his nakama’s hair as gently as possible, tongue sticking out in concentration. Usopp was so kind to be have been wonderfully gentle while cutting Luffy’s hair, so he wanted to repay the kindness.

And that’s how Nami found them half an hour later, smiling at the two friends; Usopp, looking at ease as he spent his time doodling away in a sketch book, while Luffy sat behind him, paying close attention to his hair as he gently combed it. She walked up to them.

“Usopp!” She called brightly, catching the attention of both. “Do you want me to braid your hair like you showed me?”

“Hey, I’m doing Usopp’s mystery hair right now!” Luffy retorted petulantly, bottom lip already shoving forward into a pout. Nami giggled.

“If you pay attention, I can show you how to style Usopp’s hair.” She offered with a wink, successfully convincing her captain thanks to his never-ending curiosity. They crowded around Usopp, who chuckled, and Nami began teaching Luffy how to successfully braid the coiled hair.

In the end, they styled Usopp’s hair in his usual ponytail with tightly braided sides, that they decorated with a few flowers from Robin’s garden with her blessing. As they finished, Zoro seemed to wake from his nap. He blinked at the trio with his lone eye, while Luffy stood up to present Usopp with a grand gesture. The swordsman hummed.

“Pretty,” he said simply, making Nami and Luffy cheer in delight as Usopp blushed once more, laughing along with bright laughter.


End file.
